Arthur Blank joins 'Business Leaders for Harris' as his former business partner funnels money to Trump

• Home Depot cofounder and billionaire Arthur Blank joins business leaders supporting Harris.
• Blank's chap cofounder is simply a salient Trump donor, reflecting nan backstage sector's partisan split.
• The group "Business Leaders for Harris" besides includes Mark Cuban, Reid Hoffman, and Reed Hastings.

A group of salient business leaders supporting Vice President Kamala Harris is expanding its ranks to see Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and proprietor of nan Atlanta Falcons. "Business Leaders for Harris" launched earlier this period and already includes backstage assemblage titans for illustration billionaire investor Mark Cuban, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings.

Blank's information is not astonishing — he's a longtime Democratic philanthropist who has donated to various legislature and statesmanlike campaigns. Yet Blank's governmental information puts him astatine likelihood pinch his erstwhile business partner and different Home Depot cofounder, Bernie Marcus, who is among erstwhile President Donald Trump's apical donors.

Marcus has donated millions to nan GOP and was an early MAGA supporter. He and his woman person fixed $2.7 cardinal to nan erstwhile president's 2024 campaign, aft giving $10 cardinal successful 2020 and $5 cardinal successful 2016 to Trump-related ace PACS.

Blank and Marcus are weighted astatine $9.3 cardinal and $11.1 billion, respectively. The 2 founded Home Depot successful 1978. Blank told Business Insider successful 2020 that their governmental differences didn't interfere pinch their business aliases friendship.

This predetermination season, nan larger firm and tech worlds person undergone a akin nationalist splintering. While immoderate vocal figures for illustration task capitalist Marc Andreesen, billionaire hedge money head Bill Ackman, and Elon Musk are vocal Trump supporters, Harris has worked difficult to entreaty to business leaders. She's scored endorsements from nearly 90 apical Wall Street and tech executives, arsenic good arsenic a group of almost 900 task capitalists.

In a connection astir joining Business Leaders for Harris, Blank celebrated Harris' committedness to his halfway worth of inclusion.

"Kamala Harris is simply a leader who understands this; will collaborate pinch other leaders and front-line workers to get nan champion ideas; and she will earnestly strive to beryllium a unifier who drives policies that assistance group and communities from each walks of life," he said successful nan statement.

In summation to Blank, Fulbright Bank president and erstwhile Democratic congressman John Delaney joined Business Leaders for Harris. The group besides announced that it launched its first paid advertisement campaign, which will tally connected YouTube successful nan Blue Wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The six-figure advertisement run features a small business owner and erstwhile Trump protagonist who explains why she's voting for Harris.